Class of 1963 [The Baldwin School: Yesterday and today]

The Baldwin Chapel School class of 1963
The Baldwin School
Class of 1963
The Baldwin Chapel School's class of 1963 have a unique story to tell, as they left Rosetta Baldwin's
watchful eye to enter the world at a time that held new promises, and new uncertainities, for African
Americans. With the breakdown of legal segregation in High Point, African Americans had more contact
with whites, although public schools remained segregated in the city until 1969. Relations between the
races were in uncharted waters, and frequent demonstrations in nearby Greensboro during 1963 only
heightened tension. The experiences of the class of 1963 with the white community varied greatly ­some
of the students had daily contact with white children; others stayed within the predominantly black
community and dealt little with outsiders. Regardless of their level of interaction, most of the students recall
ambivalent feelings toward the white community.
To learn more about individuals quoted and depicted in the class photo below, read brief class
biographies.
“I was always here [at Baldwin Chapel School] so I didn’t
know much about segregation….I was just a child.” ­Pam
Anderson
“I thought we were all the same—I didn’t see a lot of white
people. We would go downtown on Saturday to shop and
that was the only time. I didn’t see them at church or at
school, only when we went downtown to shop or eat and I
didn’t think about it back then....But I was never afraid of
them.” ­Barbara
Collier
“Back then it was just all of us blacks. About the only time
you saw, affiliated with any white kids,...or even came in
contact with any would be in a department store or in a grocery store....I really didn’t come into contact with
white students until I started going to public school....At that point in time I don’t think [whites] had no better
[financially] than some blacks, you know. I mean, we weren’t the richest family, but we had what we needed.” ­Lonnie
Butler
“I would work [for a white family] where there was kids; there were two boys....I would take my kids with me
to work sometimes, and they all became one, you know? So it was no different and they knew how to act
around other children, I guess by them going to work with me and seeing those kids. They didn’t really know
the difference.” ­Frances
Faust
“[African Americans] from other neighborhoods that...you really didn’t see much, they didn’t really want to be
bothered with you either because your skin was too white. Your neighborhood was your friends. That’s how it
was.” DeCarlos Rogers
Some members of the class of 1963 actively participated in the civil rights movement, while others only felt
its effects. No matter the amount of their participation, all the students still feel—and debate—the results
today.
“When integrations started, we had fewer resources….We didn’t have our own neighborhood stores anymore.
Lynn Fountain, Brenda Fountain,
Dr. Perry Little and the Reverend B. Elton Cox,
September 1, 1959. Courtesy of the High Point Enterprise.
Million Man March, Washington, D.C.,
October 16, 1995, Photo Courtesy Rosetta
C. Baldwin Museum
We started being dependent on other people. It
tore down the fabric of our communities—they
started giving us things…that we didn’t really
need….It just tore our community down but we
lost a lot of our identity.” ­Barbara
Collier
“I wanted to join the civil rights movement
simply to show that African American men could do some things positively. But the experience we received [at
the Million Man March]—we got there about 2:30 in the morning; we were one of the first groups to get
there….To experience a million men coming, and knowing at any other time that there would have been
fighting because there was people stepping on one another’s toes and bumping up against one another, but the
attitude was much different.” ­Julius
Clark
The website contains student­created
resources. The University Libraries makes no claim as to the
accuracy of the views or information presented herein.

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The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5305 -- http://library.uncg.edu/

Notes

The Baldwin School, Yesterday and Today was a Spring 2006 UNCG Public History Program class project at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Its purpose was to document the history and legacy of the school opened in 1942 by Rosetta Baldwin in her living room in High Point, N.C. For the following seven decades, the school provided religious-based, private education primarily to the city's African-American and Seventh-day Adventist communities. The story of Baldwin school has been told by its class of 1963, and captured by a group of graduate students.

Full text

The Baldwin Chapel School class of 1963
The Baldwin School
Class of 1963
The Baldwin Chapel School's class of 1963 have a unique story to tell, as they left Rosetta Baldwin's
watchful eye to enter the world at a time that held new promises, and new uncertainities, for African
Americans. With the breakdown of legal segregation in High Point, African Americans had more contact
with whites, although public schools remained segregated in the city until 1969. Relations between the
races were in uncharted waters, and frequent demonstrations in nearby Greensboro during 1963 only
heightened tension. The experiences of the class of 1963 with the white community varied greatly ­some
of the students had daily contact with white children; others stayed within the predominantly black
community and dealt little with outsiders. Regardless of their level of interaction, most of the students recall
ambivalent feelings toward the white community.
To learn more about individuals quoted and depicted in the class photo below, read brief class
biographies.
“I was always here [at Baldwin Chapel School] so I didn’t
know much about segregation….I was just a child.” ­Pam
Anderson
“I thought we were all the same—I didn’t see a lot of white
people. We would go downtown on Saturday to shop and
that was the only time. I didn’t see them at church or at
school, only when we went downtown to shop or eat and I
didn’t think about it back then....But I was never afraid of
them.” ­Barbara
Collier
“Back then it was just all of us blacks. About the only time
you saw, affiliated with any white kids,...or even came in
contact with any would be in a department store or in a grocery store....I really didn’t come into contact with
white students until I started going to public school....At that point in time I don’t think [whites] had no better
[financially] than some blacks, you know. I mean, we weren’t the richest family, but we had what we needed.” ­Lonnie
Butler
“I would work [for a white family] where there was kids; there were two boys....I would take my kids with me
to work sometimes, and they all became one, you know? So it was no different and they knew how to act
around other children, I guess by them going to work with me and seeing those kids. They didn’t really know
the difference.” ­Frances
Faust
“[African Americans] from other neighborhoods that...you really didn’t see much, they didn’t really want to be
bothered with you either because your skin was too white. Your neighborhood was your friends. That’s how it
was.” DeCarlos Rogers
Some members of the class of 1963 actively participated in the civil rights movement, while others only felt
its effects. No matter the amount of their participation, all the students still feel—and debate—the results
today.
“When integrations started, we had fewer resources….We didn’t have our own neighborhood stores anymore.
Lynn Fountain, Brenda Fountain,
Dr. Perry Little and the Reverend B. Elton Cox,
September 1, 1959. Courtesy of the High Point Enterprise.
Million Man March, Washington, D.C.,
October 16, 1995, Photo Courtesy Rosetta
C. Baldwin Museum
We started being dependent on other people. It
tore down the fabric of our communities—they
started giving us things…that we didn’t really
need….It just tore our community down but we
lost a lot of our identity.” ­Barbara
Collier
“I wanted to join the civil rights movement
simply to show that African American men could do some things positively. But the experience we received [at
the Million Man March]—we got there about 2:30 in the morning; we were one of the first groups to get
there….To experience a million men coming, and knowing at any other time that there would have been
fighting because there was people stepping on one another’s toes and bumping up against one another, but the
attitude was much different.” ­Julius
Clark
The website contains student­created
resources. The University Libraries makes no claim as to the
accuracy of the views or information presented herein.